The River Nile flows with many hues of blue as we cruise to sunet .... there has been a major clean-up in the 30 years since Brian and I were here! The tourist, agriculture and fishing industries, all rely on the Nile .... so all is good on this ancient river that played so large a part of my early religious education and stoked my imagination so ....... we cruised for four days, stopping at various temples and tombs along the way ........ started in Luxor, Aswan and flew on to Abu Simbel. My favourite part remains the scenery, nature, interacting with the local folks ...... a constant on my travels ......... I imagine this is a rather strange thing to admit at this juncture, but I am really not that into temples and tombs, fascinating as they may be given their age :) ....... built by slaves for the rather egotistical kings, pharaohs, queens of their time ........ and what is that with the compulsive obsession with the afterlife???!! Guess karma were not in the spotlight at the time ...... so diligent about taking all their worldly goods with them and then some!! Fascinating as were all the thousands of artifacts, furniture, jewelry etc. found in Tutankhamen's tomb, and proudly & well displayed at the Cairo Museum, I found my mind waundering, wondering how many slaves died building all this ..... guess it is obvious to anyone, that I am not much of a fan of royalty, ancient or otherwise! :) In fairness, I did marvel at all the ingenuity nonetheless .......just grown a bit weary of all that hoarding that humans are so capable of and apparently have been throughout history ....... royalty, and the latest ...... the Wall Street gang et al. How can anyone, with any semblance of conscience, grab, with such greedy gusto, as many of our earthly goods as possible, leaving so little for the rest of the world?? How could one even venture a reflective glance into a mirror and not feel some form of shame and guilt?! History has always held a certain fascination for me ...... we learn so much from it ..... there is no doubt in my mind that this area possibly is one of the early cradles of civilization ..... but oh my .......... that single-minded preoccupation with the afterlife ....... but then again, the history I am currently exploring was thousands of years ago :) . We are an evolutionary species after all :) ....
hmmmm ...... wonder what will be said of the average preoccupations of our times in five or ten thousand years??? ..... will it be said ........"look at those backward people .... still consumed with old paradigms ........ even though in possession of thousands of years of historical knowledge on the futility of war, they war on! ..... worshipping the gods of materialism/consumerism ....... hating rather than loving, taking rather than sharing ...... 8% of the world's population today uses 85% of all the resources available on this planet ...... We are most certainly a part of that 8% ............ It was so in these lands, thousands of years ago ......... possibly then, less than 1% of the population using all resources .... the royalty!! ...... we have improved marginally :) As I stop to reflect ....... in all the countries I have journeyed to these past several months ....... most have little in the way of material goods, yet their lives flow forward ..... they love, live, laugh, grow families, enjoy times with friends .......... pray, work, play, share ... oh my yes ....... share ......... the poorer the people, the more likely they are to share ..... amazing ..... Sadly, I know too many in my world who only feel the "lack of" in their lives .... my take on all that ........ we are plugging up the holes of not enough love in our lives, the sad break-down of marriages where the family can often disintegrate totally, some left in the dust, floundering and lost for that lifetime ...... for far too many, that is a reality ........ and of course, the sadly deteriorating spiritual lives .... aaah, the list goes on ......... way too much "stuff" is subsequently used, trying to fill the empty gaps & valleys of the soul ...... In every so-called third world country I have traveled to, it is the norm for extended families to get together daily and absolutely weekly for dinners together ..... it seems to be the glue that keeps their lives just a little bit brighter and happier on every level. They are connected to something real and strong .......... not the newest gadgets, fashions, cars, excessive clothing, posh hairdos, sports (there is no extra money is most families for anything but basic survival!) ........ and oh my, yes, that time-consuming preoccupation in North America .... the quest to find the "fountain of youth" be it via an injection of botox, the latest youth enhancing face cream, antioxidant, or worse yet, altering body shapes with surgery ("if I just look a certain way, maybe someone will really love me!!") ...... goodness ..... all that nonsense that our so-called advanced world indulges in!!! .......... when sitting down with our families at home over a steaming bowl of stew or pho, stirred and stewed with love, is what truly feeds the hunger within and without. Ironic for me, that the importance of family keeps being reinforced, as I journey on, so far from the comforts of my own family and home who I love so dearly. Of course I did not need to leave to know what is truly important in life, but still, it is interesting to see it reinforced in every culture I travel to. Sunday dinner at our home has always been a family affair ...... an institution really for many years :) !!! ....... and I only hope Sarah is keeping those fires burning in my sabbatical year. Next year, Brian and I welcome our first grandchild into the family fold ...... Sarah & Rob's co-creation with God .... Love ...... it is what ignites and fuels the creation of this Leppanen/Webb/Overmann, Cullen/McMechan/Hawkes/Gauss/White/Boucher/family tapestry that is without beginning or end.
(did I leave anyone out ..... quite late for me and mistakes are inevitable when I type on the blog :)) ..... Musing and thinking outloud here ..... just had a fellow move away from me here in the business center, giving me a puzzled look as he left .... I have a tendency to whisper my words sometimes as I type :) ..... Sarah, Tim and Brian will laugh at that one :) ......
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